Download - Digital Marketing 2016 Report
By: Doug Bentley
www.videocreations.biz
mailto: [email protected]
© Copyright 2016 www.videocreations.biz
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. You may give away this report as long as it is not
sold, altered in any way, falsely misrepresented or distributed in any illegal or immoral manner.
Disclaimer: This e-book has been written for information purposes
only. Every effort has been made to make this ebook as complete and accurate as possible. However, there may be mistakes in typography or
content. Also, this e-book provides information only up to the publishing date. Therefore, this ebook should be used as a guide - not as the ultimate
source.
The purpose of this ebook is to educate. The author does not warrant that the
information contained in this e-book is fully complete and shall not be responsible for any errors or omissions. The author shall have neither liability
nor responsibility to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by this ebook.
Table of Contents
Introduction .............................................................................................................................................. - 1 -
What is Digital Marketing Exactly? ........................................................................................................... - 2 -
7 Digital Marketing Success Strategies ..................................................................................................... - 3 -
Top 5 Digital Marketing Benefits For Small Businesses .......................................................................... - 13 -
5 Critical Digital Marketing Mistakes to Avoid ........................................................................................ - 14 -
3 Key Factors to Succeed With Digital Marketing ................................................................................... - 16 -
Conclusion – Digital Marketing is Here to Stay ....................................................................................... - 18 -
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Introduction
Digital Marketing in 2016: Top 7 Strategies to Watch for Success
Did you know that 72% of consumers are already connecting with brands
through their various digital marketing channels and activities?
This is MAJOR. In other words, a large portion of your target market is now
using these means to connect and build relationships with companies they
know, like, and trust. Digital marketing is an ever changing industry, with new
techniques and trends constantly emerging. In order to make sure your
business is ahead of the curve, it’s important to stay on top of the latest
strategies that are helping companies across the globe effectively increase
leads, sales, and revenue.
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In this report, we’ll explore the top 7 digital marketing strategies that are
going to play a big part in 2016. If you start incorporating them into your
campaign today, you’ll already be one step ahead of your competition.
But before we jump in…
What is Digital Marketing Exactly?
Digital marketing involves promoting your products and services via an
electronic platform. This includes e-mail, social media, the internet, mobile
phones and tablet devices. It has become the most popular and successful
way of advertising and building up brand awareness. Unlike more traditional
marketing techniques, digital marketing enables you to analyze your
campaign to find out more about your target market and what is and isn’t
working.
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You can keep track of what content is being viewed, what produces sales
conversions, and even how long visitors stay on your website. This data can
then be used to improve your marketing strategy and convert more leads into
sales. It is a lot more complex than businesses realize when they first start
out. The potential benefits are staggering providing you devote the time and
effort required to build a successful digital marketing strategy.
Consumer behavior has changed dramatically when it comes to finding and
choosing products, services, and businesses. The internet (especially now with
easy Mobile access) has enabled consumers to receive and provide
information about businesses whenever they need it, no matter where they
are.
This is not expected to change…
7 Digital Marketing Success Strategies
Here are 7 Digital Marketing Success Strategies you should watch and
implement for success in the coming months and years:
1. The Bar Will Be Raised for Website Design
Your company’s website is its main marketing hub. Any content that you
release onto the World Wide Web will usually have the sole purpose of
directing customers back to your site. Therefore it is imperative that you
ensure your website has a clean, professional look and that it contains useful,
easy to read content.
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Up until now, businesses have been able to get away with having a fairly basic
site. This is no longer enough in 2016. The bar is being raised and generic,
grid design sites are being pushed aside in favor of more artistic, flowing
creations. Consumers like to be fully engaged rather than being presented
with simple text and images.
However, it’s easy to overstep from artistic to over-complicated designs. While
you do want to engage visitors to your website, you don’t want to overwhelm
them. So try not to be too overenthusiastic with animations and flash images.
2. Local Search Optimization and Content Will Be Top Priority
Local search marketing is set to become even more important in the coming
year. Today’s consumers are much more likely to turn to the internet to find
information on local businesses than they are to look in a phone book or local
classifieds. Ensuring your company is easy to find in local searches can be
hard work. According to research, the number one reason why most
businesses fail to appear in local search listings is because they simply haven’t
updated their contact information.
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It is vitally important to ensure your company’s name, phone number and
address is correctly entered into any online directory you are a part of. If
you’ve changed your location or phone number since you last made an online
listing, you need to update it as soon as possible. After all, what use is it to
show up in local searches if your customers aren’t going to be able to contact
you? They aren’t going to take the time to research the correct information.
Not only that, but your local listings must be claimed, verified, and optimized
in order to rank highly and be seen by more potential customers. Your NAP
(Name, Address, Phone Number) citations must be consistent across the web
in order to produce better rankings and optimization.
Blogging will also become even more essential as a local traffic tool. Content
is always going to remain king of online marketing. Using interesting, relevant,
keyword-optimized content to educate your target audience is a key area of
focus. Publishing blog posts, social posts, visual content, and more across the
web naturally activates a “pull” marketing campaign that sends targeted
prospects to YOU. So regardless of the industry you are in, content marketing
could easily become your top-selling strategy.
3. Mobile Will Continue to Dominate Marketing
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As mentioned above, consumers spend a lot more time on their mobiles
searching for information on products and services these days. Mobile
marketing has been steadily growing in popularity and it isn’t slowing down in
2016.
In 2015, mobile traffic actually overtook desktop traffic for the first time ever.
So unless you have a mobile optimized version of your website, your
marketing efforts will not be able to bring in the best results.
There are even some consumers who won’t buy from a business if they don’t
have an online presence. Mobile phones have become such an integral part of
today’s society and it is now expected that modern businesses have a mobile
optimized site.
It isn’t just your website that you should be focusing on, however. Sure it’s
important to optimize your site, but there are other mobile marketing
strategies that you should be focusing on in 2016. Apps are another way you
can reach your target market. Offering an app that your customers can
download will help to set you apart from the competition and reach a much
larger target market. If you also tailor the app so that your products and
services can be bought directly through it, this will further boost your sales
and your reputation.
Mobile marketing comes in many forms and mobile searches in particular are
set to increase over the course of the coming years.
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4. Online Video Consumption Will Break New Records
Did you know that online videos current account for around 50% of mobile
traffic? This is a trend that is set to continue to growth spurt throughout 2016
and many years beyond. One key indicator is the popularity and success of
social video ads on major social networking sites such as Facebook, YouTube
and Twitter. Consumers like to be engaged and a video does that much more
effectively than blocks of text and a simple image.
Recent research carried out by Cisco has helped to predict that video will make
up an estimated 69% of all online consumer traffic by 2017.
Many companies are already cashing in on this growing content marketing
trend. You only have to look at the popularity of YouTube to see the potential
online videos have for your marketing campaign. Every single month YouTube
attracts over one billion visitors. People love videos and it’s easy to see why.
A short marketing video engages the customer and provides information in an
easy to digest format. Creating and publishing videos no longer requires
expert technical knowledge. So if you think about it, you’re getting the same
response as you would with a TV ad, only you’re paying a fraction of the price
for the same benefits.
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5. Social Relationship Building Set to Become the New Advertising
Social relationship building is going to become one of the most important
marketing strategies for businesses in 2016 and beyond. Social media is huge
and it has already helped thousands of businesses create more brand
awareness. Actually engaging with your customers on a daily basis will help
to build up trust and give your business a more personal touch.
This is also one of the best ways to retain customers and improve customer
satisfaction. Keeping customers is a major challenge that many businesses fail
at. It’s natural to lose some amount of business each year, but if you’re finding
you are losing a lot of your customers then it’s time to focus on figuring out
ways to keep them.
So what exactly is social reputation building? Put simply it is the creation of
content that focuses on long-term customer value. Rather than creating
strong sales related adverts, instead you should be focusing on creating
relevant and useful information that your customers might find useful.
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Talking about the latest issues relating to your industry is a good place to
start. Everybody likes to discuss current trends regarding the things they are
interested in.
What you need to remember is that building a strong social media presence
isn’t going to happen overnight. It takes time and dedication to gain a good
following online.
6. Personalized and Segmented Email Marketing
There has been a lot of debate as to whether email marketing is still relevant
in today’s digital marketing world. The simple answer to this is yes, it is
absolutely still relevant. However, admittedly the way you should approach
your email marketing campaign has changed significantly over the years.
During 2016, personalized and segmented email marketing is what you should
be focusing on.
Customers want to feel like they actually matter. They want a personalized
experience and don’t want to be made to feel like they are just a number on
your database. Personalized emails therefore are a lot more likely to get a
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response from customers, rather than a generic template sent out to your
entire mailing list.
So what does a personalized email look like? Well, firstly it’s important to use
the customer’s name at the start of the email. Then more importantly, you
need to make sure the content you are sending is relevant to that particular
customer. Look at what they bought from you and use this to determine the
type of products they are likely going to be interested in.
Obviously using data collection tools will aid you with this as you’ll be able to
analyze and gather a wide range of information on your customers which you
can then use to create better targeted emails.
If you have a large mailing list, personalizing each email separately is going
to be an issue. That’s where segmented emails come in. By separating your
mailing list into specific groups, it helps you to tailor your emails to fit each
group accordingly. This still provides a more personalized response, but it
requires a lot less time than personalizing the content for each individual.
If you follow the personalized and segmented email marketing approach it will
really help you continue to drive sales and boost customer retention.
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7. Reputation Management Will Become Even More Vital
In business your reputation is everything. Drawing customers in and making
a sale is only part of the battle when it comes to sustaining your business.
Another major part of ensuring your business doesn’t fail is developing a
strong, reliable reputation. In order to achieve this you need to focus on
offering good customer service.
Social media is the best way to boost your reputation. It allows you to
personally connect with your customers and respond to any problems quickly.
While many customers will still contact you directly if there are any issues,
more are starting to turn to social media to voice their opinions. Customer
reviews are just as important as customer feedback.
Did you know that 4 out of 5 people these days go on social media sites to get
advice on which product or service they should choose? Peer
recommendations are everything and far outweigh advertisements alone. By
managing your reputation, customers will be more likely to write good reviews
and recommend your business to others.
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The key is to show your customers that you actually listen to them. By looking
at what people are saying about your company online, you’ll be able to take
action and show that you care what your customers think.
You will also need to act on any problems that your customers experience. It’s
one thing to listen, but if you don’t actively do anything to rectify the problem,
it isn’t going to do anything other than harm your reputation. Keep customers
updated on any changes you have made to a product or service based upon
their recommendation. Offer discounts to those who have had a negative
experience.
The bottom line is that consumers want to know they are dealing with a
company they can trust. Digital marketing has made it easier for them to find
reliable, trustworthy businesses and make more informed choices about who
they do business with.
Overall the above are the top 7 trends you really need to pay attention to,
learn as much as you can about, and implement strategically if you want to
get the most from your Digital Marketing efforts.
No matter which methods you choose to adopt, you are that much closer to
saving time and money on your marketing campaigns – while reaching more
of your customers and prospects.
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Top 5 Digital Marketing Benefits For Small Businesses
Traditional Marketing - such as Direct Mail, Print Ads, TV Ads, Newspaper Ads,
and Radio Ads - have lost the powerful punch they used to pack in the world
of marketing. Businesses across the globe are turning their focus and
marketing budgets on more effective ways to reach their audiences.
Here Are 5 Reasons Digital Marketing Is A MUST:
1. More Cost-Effective Than Traditional Marketing
Because it costs a fraction of many traditional marketing methods, Digital
marketing delivers a better cost-per-lead ratio - ultimately increasing profits.
2. Delivers Higher Conversions
A targeted marketing campaign via digital channels not only provides a
massive amount of exposure to serious leads, but can deliver a much higher
return on investment than non-performing, expensive traditional methods.
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3. Keeps You Connected With MOBILE Consumers
Mobile data traffic is expected to increase 10-fold between 2014 and 2019. So
without a solid Mobile strategy, you are missing out on a major source of leads
and profits.
4. Gives You A Competitive ADVANTAGE
Many of your competitors still aren't using digital marketing, so there's plenty
of opportunity for your business to grab a large share of your digital target
audience.
5. Allows You To Grow With The Demand
Internet traffic in 2019 is expected to be equivalent to 64 times the volume of
the entire global Internet there was in 2005. Your success will eventually
depend on your ability to meet the digital demands of your customers and
prospects.
5 Critical Digital Marketing Mistakes to Avoid
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According to Google, companies using digital marketing strategies have 2.8
times better revenue growth expectancy. This is HUGE.
However, it has to be done right to avoid some of these potential mistakes
that could waste your time and money:
1. Treating It Like An Afterthought
Digital marketing shouldn't be something you casually "jump into." It should
be a well-thought out and carefully planned journey towards more leads,
sales, and revenue.
2. Not Collecting Customer & Lead Information
It has never been easier to collect leads on auto-pilot – thanks to the internet.
Use that information to follow up with them and ultimately convert them into
loyal customers; do not miss out on this profitable opportunity. Be sure to
include opt-in forms on your website, social media sites, and more. Also make
this a consistent effort for the best results.
3. Leaving Loose Ends
Once you set everything up, don't let it go to waste by doing nothing with it.
You may not realize just how close you are to turning those ready-to-go
funnels into REAL, CONSISTENT ROI.
4. Wasting Valuable Data
With Digital Marketing, just about any type of data you need is right at your
fingertips. Don't let it go to waste; study it to understand what's going on and
implement new processes to capitalize on it.
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5. Ignoring Your Audience
Consumers expect engagement and interaction from brands they
communicate and connect with online. Don't ignore them as this could
negatively impact your reputation. Not only that, but use the power of online
customer engagement to increase sales.
3 Key Factors to Succeed With Digital Marketing
It’s understandable if you’re feeling a little overwhelmed by digital marketing.
There is so much to learn and it requires a serious level of dedication to run a
successful digital marketing campaign. If you’re just starting out, the 3 key
factors below are everything you need to succeed.
1. Put your customer’s wants and needs FIRST and connect with them through
multiple digital channels for the best reach
It’s common for businesses to put their own needs first without even thinking
about their customers. Before releasing any content you need to ask yourself
what value it brings to the reader. Identify what their needs are.
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If you can come up with content that addresses these needs and a product or
service that fulfills them, you will see a lot more success.
Using a range of different digital channels is also important. Make use of social
media, email and video marketing. This will allow you to reach a much wider
target audience and really raise your brand awareness.
2. Stand out from your competition
Digital marketing has made it easier for small businesses to compete for their
share of the market. Those that are taking digital marketing by the horns are
gaining a significant advantage over those that aren’t. Due to how cost
effective digital marketing is, it has enabled small companies to really make
their mark and even compete against larger, more established businesses.
If you want to succeed you will need to really stand out from your competition.
This means keeping up with the latest trends, building up a solid, reliable
reputation and knowing which digital channels are offering the most success.
3. Monitor, measure and track your digital marketing performance
One of the most common mistakes made with digital marketing is failing to
monitor and track its performance. You need to know what’s working and what
isn’t. If you’re using a number of different channels you also need to know
which ones are gaining you the most success and which are simply wasting
your time. By monitoring your campaign you will be able to quickly identify
any changes that need to be made and where you should be focusing your
attention. It will really help to strengthen your overall strategy and ensure
your efforts are rewarded.
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Conclusion – Digital Marketing is Here to Stay
2016 is going to be the year many businesses finally wake up to the fact that
mobile, social media, reputation management, video marketing and other
strategies we talked about are here to stay. They aren’t passing trends that
you can ignore until they go away. Studies show that they will continue to
experience massive growth levels in the coming years.
If you want your business to start profiting from the digital era, you’re going
to have to take steps towards learning more about these methods; then, take
a more serious look at the ones that would be most beneficial to your growth.
Need help figuring out what they are and how they can make a significant
impact on your business specifically? Contact me today at
[email protected] for a free, no-obligation consultation.
Doug Bentley
www.videocreations.biz
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Richmond Video Creations
104-7288 #3 Road,
Richmond, BC, CA
V6Y 3Y1
SOURCES:
http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/collateral/service-provider/ip-ngn-
ip-next-generation-network/white_paper_c11-481360.html
http://www.business2community.com/digital-marketing/internet-red-carpet-
business-digital-marketing-2016-01361484#CpZXDpLAqTegAmXI.97